Band of Young Saints - Holy Hoaxes

​Band of Young Saints

​Holy Hoaxes
self-released; 2016

3.8 out of 5

By Jamie Robash
​

Art is hard. Art is not by any means fun. Not making it, not looking at it, not watching it. No one sits down to read Virginia Woolf or Samuel Beckett for “fun.” Staring at a Picasso or Pollock doesn’t make anyone want to go out and paint the town afterwards, and likewise neither does exiting a Bella Tar film. I bring up these examples because they are all artists who are deemed “experimental.” Experimentation has a lot to do with Holy Hoaxes, by the Brooklyn indie power pop quartet Band of Young Saints also known as B.O.Y.S.

So if you’re a close reader you’re probably thinking to yourself “experimental indie power pop? Bullshit.” Yeah I know that’s what I’d have said too before listening to Holy Hoaxes. B.O.Y.S drummer Kevin Dawkins, who also recorded Holy Hoaxes said of its creation “The recording process is a wide array of ideas, both technical and creative.

​Sometimes my creative side tells my technical side to shut up. For example, I used two mics on a Jazz Chorus amp that I ran a bass through. You don't do that. But I liked the sound. The amp has 15-inch cones on it. I said to myself, I'm running a bass through this shit! If it sounds dumb, oh well. Experimentation is part of my creative process. The challenge with this album was to creatively capture those sparks.”

And Holy Hoaxes emits sparks right out of the gate on angst-y, balls out rocker “Pretty Pleas” which begins the vocal volleys between Alexandra Wyshosky and John De La O which only get stronger as Holy Hoaxes progresses, as they yell back and forth in verse on the properly poppy breakup tune “On the Radio” a ruse which they continue in a softer style on the twangy acoustic “Christmas Eve.” They also prove a powerful duo when working together like on the lo-fi pop perfect, groove infested frenzy “Friday Night” and creepy noir tinged rag-time of “Philistine.”

On the whole Holy Hoaxes sounds like a mash-up of indie pop stalwarts Super Chunk with a hint of ‘90s poetic emo rebels Rainer Maria, something that comes in hot on the fiery youth anthem “Bridges Burned.” If you have a sweet tooth that can only be quelled by saccharine soaked indie pop Holy Hoaxes is an album that will send you into a diabetic shock of rock.

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